Tuesday, March 29, 2011

E3, Here I Come

I've been a huge follower of video game industry news for as long as I can remember. It probably started with my first issue of the Nintendo Fun Club Newsletter in 1987. Years later, but before the Internet became mainstream, I'd spend hours in Borders, reading every gaming magazine on the shelves. Eventually, I made a habit of disseminating this news to my friends as quickly as I could. I created an XBAND account (called TheNews, if I remember correctly) as an early means of digital news distribution. I'd update the account profile with the latest info as often as I could. More recently, I started this blog as a way to keep my friends up-to-date with gaming news relevant to them and to myself.

I'm a huge fan of fighting games and have been since I first played Street Fighter II in a movie theater some 20 years ago. That undying passion was recognized by the folks over at Capcom-Unity.com, who promoted me to a moderator of the site's fighting game forums. I will bring a deep understanding of fighting games to Kmart Gamer's E3 coverage. As we enter the second golden era of fighting games, I look forward to covering the latest additions to the Street Fighter, BlazBlue, and Tekken series. Also, I'm interested in covering up-and-coming projects like Skullgirls. As an avid fighting gamer, I can break down exactly what systems make these games new, different, and interesting. I know the difference between a Roman Cancel, a Focus-Attack-Dash-Cancel, and a Kattobi cancel. My interests don't stop at fighting games, however.

I'm also a fan of role-playing and action games. I look forward to the next Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games almost as much as the next Capcom fighting game. Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of my favorite games of all time, as is the excellent platformer-RPG Tomba! I'm an AR card-carrying Nintendo fan, and I'm excited to see anything Mario or Zelda-related that Nintendo may be cooking up.

I also look forward to the obscure and indie games, the hidden gems on the show floor. Warp, for example, was my favorite game on display at PAX East. Fez, which looks amazing, might have taken that honor, had there not always been lines and interviewers to contend with. I love the frenetic jumping and impeccable level design of Super Meat Boy, my favorite game in recent memory.

I'd like to put my eclectic tastes and hobby of sharing gaming news to use by helping Kmart Gamer cover E3 this year. If you want someone who can blog about all types of games, or even someone who will dive deep into the fighting genre, I'm your man!

[Thanks to friend of the blog, Brian, who dug up the above photo of me holding the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame Award at E3 1999. It had previously only been held by Shigeru Miyamoto and Sid Meier!]